In short:
The Northern Territory has passed new laws that lower the age of criminal responsibility to 10, about two years after the previous government raised the age to 12.
It comes a day after the Country Liberal Party government pushed through tougher bail legislation and extra powers for police as part of a suite of law and order changes.
What’s next?
New laws on public drinking and assaults on workers are expected to pass when parliament resumes next week.
Excellent, crime is out of hand up here.
I was talking with a police officer who was in a pursuit where the kids chased the police cars and kept trying to ram tyne police. When they finally stopped tyne pursuit the driver was 11 years old so that took the kid home to his parents. Then an hour later arrested the same kid again for trying to steal another car.
Funny how the police can lock someone in jail, but they can’t do anything to help a broken family. Drag thinks we could use some non-police solutions to the problem, because drag doesn’t think putting 11 year olds in prison is a humane way of fixing anything.
Taking a kid from that family would be an immediate improvement no matter how it was done
Drag can think of many things a government could do to a kid worse than being in an abusive household. Hypothetically: Killing, slave labour, chemical experiments, exposure to addictive drugs. Realistically: Surrounding him with a bunch of older criminals who will traumatise him just as bad as his parents and also teach him how to scale up his crimes to violent crimes against civilians. What if the older kids beat him up, or get him on alcohol or cigarettes?
Drag can also think of solutions that don’t involve any violence. Like family therapy, a support pension, or rehabilitation programs for the parents.